The Infamous Bench-Celebrating Monmouth Basketball Team Got Into a Tussle Last Night

You'd think that after spending half a season crafting silly bench celebrations—anything from mimicking someone finding their glasses, to reenactments of the Sistine Chapel and scenes from The Avengers—the Monmouth basketball team would be hard to take seriously. But last night's tussle with Iona was certainly no laughing matter.

After the Hawks 110-102 win over the Iona Gaels, Monmouth's Chris Brady received a rough open-handed slap across the face from Iona player Jordan Washington. Everything sparked during the end-of-game handshake—and the exchange looked anything but congratulatory.

This gif is like a Where's Waldo of strife, as you can see other Iona players being consoled (center), and another player being held back by a woman who is much smaller than him (bottom left). Even an assistant coach was dragged down in a series of shoves (video above). It's a miracle that Brady didn't get into it any further—he looked pretty charged up after the slap.

ESPN's Andy Katz interviewed Iona coach Tim Cluess about the incident,

"Right now we're all involved making sure that none of the players got hurt and trying to contain the whole situation with both teams," Cluess said. "And I think the majority, almost every single kid on both teams, did a very good job of keeping everything under control and making sure nothing happened."

Maybe Cluess should look at the tape again—he might not find that everyone was doing such a "good job." Meanwhile, Monmouth coach King Rice told reporters after the game that "Brady's nose is pretty messed up right now." The two teams already had some leftover beef, which includes their respective coaches exchanging words at the end of their heated matchup from last season. Cluess even went so far as to dis the team's notorious bench celebrations in the buildup to yesterday's game.

"Are they on the team?" he said, referring to the bench. "I didn't know if they were on the team or wearing uniforms as cheerleaders. I've never seen them on the court doing anything, so to me, they're not basketball players."

Damn. That's a cold-ass dis.

ESPN also reported that MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor said that the incident will be submitted for review.Let's see how chipper the Monmouth bench will be next time around.